Big Night In
by abbyfillion22
Summary: Hello, 2014! Castle and Beckett decide to have a night in together to celebrate the new year. WARNING: HIGH LEVELS OF FLUFF, CHEESE, AND ROMANCE. Proceed at your own risk


**So much fluff, so little time...**

* * *

**11:00 AM, December 31, 2013**

"Let's do something big for this new year's eve," Castle declared, handing Kate a steaming mug of coffee in a white ceramic mug.

She sat propped up against the headboard of the queen sized bed, looking beautifully disheveled in her 'just woke up' stage; curly brown hair rumpled, face free of makeup. She was dressed in an old gray T-shirt with _Stanford University_ stamped across it in distressed red lettering.

Castle never found his fiancé lovelier than when she first woke up in the morning. He knew that very few other men have had the privilege of seeing her this way. He smiled to himself as he climbed into bed next to her.

Kate immediately turned over and folded herself up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder as she sipped her coffee. "Really? You're making elaborate plans 13 hours before 2014?" she asked, blowing on the surface of her too hot beverage, making tiny ripples in the liquid.

"What do you say we head over to Times Square and watch the ball drop?" he offered. "I've always wanted to do that."

"Yeah," Kate laughed. "Sounds like fun; standing in the freezing cold for hours on end, surrounded by a bunch of tourists just to see some pop stars sing and a colorful ball descend from a pole."

Castle sighed and wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, when you put it that way, it does sound lame." The only thing New Yorkers hated more than tourists were cliché activities such as the Times Square New Years celebration. "So what do _you_ want to do?"

Kate turned to set her mug on the nightstand before placing her lips on Castle's jawbone, her fingers trailing up his thigh. "This."

Castle's eyes widened as Kate's teeth latched onto his earlobe. "Beckett."

"Hm."

"Don't get me wrong, I like this… oh, I like that too…"

"Yeah."

"But what are we going to do tonight?" he said finally, trying hard to stay focused on the topic while she was kissing him like she was and her hand was starting to wander upwards.

Kate sat back, knowing that Castle's attention was very narrowed and she was going to get nowhere with him while he was focused on their plans. "Why do we have to do anything?" she asked plainly. "I mean, for the past two years, we've gone out to parties. And they were fun but why can't we just stay in once?"

"Stay in?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I know you like being around other people but-"

"Let's stay in," Castle said with finality. The only reason he liked going out so much was because he liked going places with Kate; seeing all the other men stare after her while knowing they could never have her because she was with _him_. "I can't imagine spending New Years Eve any better way than with you." He was growing more and more excited as he thought about having a night in, just him and Kate. "We'll open a bottle of that red wine that you like so much…"

She blushed.

"And order in some takeout," he beamed, taking her hand. "And get a fire going, turn on the TV…"

Kate grinned, her lower lip trapped between her teeth. "That sounds great!"

"It'll be the best celebration ever."

* * *

**12:00, December 31, 2013**

Castle stood behind the griddle, spatula in hand, happily whistling as he flipped his perfectly circular pancakes. On the stove, crispy turkey bacon sizzled and popped as it cooked. Castle hadn't always eaten turkey bacon, but it was one small change in his life that Kate had made for the better. She said it was healthier for him.

His fiancé watched him cook from the bar stool, leaning forwards with her chin in her hands as she admired his culinary skills. He was whistling the _Cheers_ theme. He always whistled when he was happy.

Castle glanced up every once in a while just to get a peek down her shirt, _his _shirt, actually.

Kate, being the sharp person she was, caught him staring and sat up straight, buttoning the shirt up to her neck and shaking her head like she was offended. "It's so hot when you cook brunch for me post-sex, Castle."

"That's why I do it, sweetheart," he replied with a smile, scraping her pancake from the griddle and onto a plate. Before handing it to her, he grabbed the syrup and poured it over the pancake in the shape of a heart. "Here you are, Mrs. Castle."

Beckett smiled at this endearing gesture. "Thank you, Mr. Castle. But may I remind you that I'm not your missus quite yet." She took a gigantic bite of the pancake, the fluffy batter combining perfectly with the sweet, smooth chocolate chips.

"I know," he shrugged. "I just can't wait until I can call you that."

"Just wait, Mr. Castle," she said with her mouth full. She cut a triangular piece and held the fork out to him. "You'll have the rest of our lives for that, don't rush it."

He took the bite from her fork. "Okay, Beckett."

"Okay, Castle."

* * *

**1:00 PM, December 31, 2013**

Castle sat in the corner of the L-shaped vermillion couch with his legs stretched in front of him. Kate lay perpendicular to him with her head in his lap, an old tattered book propped up on her chest. As she read aloud, Castle raked his fingers through her wavy hair and stared down at her, just enjoying the sound of her voice and the animated expressions she made whenever the dialogue changed.

"_Promise to give me a kiss on my brow when I am dead. -I shall feel it_," Kate recited.

"_She dropped her head again on Marius' knees, and her eyelids closed. He thought the poor soul had departed. Eponine remained motionless. All at once, at the very moment when Marius fancied her asleep forever, she slowly opened her eyes in which appeared the sombre profundity of death, and said to him in a tone whose sweetness seemed already to proceed from another world:-_

"_And by the way, Monsieur Marius, I believe that I was a little bit in love with you."_

With that, Castle sighed.

Kate looked up. "What?"

"It's so _Romeo & Juliet_," he noted. "It's just so tragic."

"That's how classics are, Castle," she pointed out. "Victor Hugo was good at writing tragedies. So was William Shakespeare."

"So pretty much if I want to be considered a "classic" writer, a beloved character of mine needs to die in a tear-jerking way?" he whined, thinking about how sad readers get when they invest so much of their hearts into a character, only to have them die in the end. "Did anyone ever stop to think, 'Hey, let's have a nice ending here where they all live happily ever after'?"

"No, because that's not realistic."

Castle crossed his arms.

Kate smiled at how personally he was taking this. "That time traveler guy _did_ say that you get into serious literature," she stated in order to lift his spirits. "Don't forget that."

Castle nodded. "Never. But Eponine told Marius that she was a _little bit_ in love with him? How can you be a _little bit_ in love with someone?"

"Castle, it's a book," she laughed.

"How would you like it if I said, 'Hey, Beckett, I love you a little bit. Not a whole lot, just a little bit.'?" He held his thumb and index finger an inch apart. "That would be a lie because I love you a whole lot," Castle added quickly. "Love isn't a maybe thing!" he exclaimed. "It's not a 'little bit' thing! You're either crazy, madly, insanely in love with someone or you're not! Plain and simple. You're in or you're out. That's it. The end." By the end of his rant, he was standing and wildly waving his hands about.

"It's a _book_, Castle," Kate reiterated, tapping the hardcover. "It was meant to be a sweet, romantic moment between them."

"Victor Hugo must never have been truly in love," Castle said, jabbing his finger at the book. "That's all I'm saying."

Kate laughed.

"Victor Hugo, who do you think you are?" Castle grumbled. "The audacity!"

"Do you want me to stop reading? You're getting pretty upset about this."

Castle paused, then sat down again. "No, keep reading, I want to know what happens, although I'm guessing it ends with someone else I really like dying."

"Maybe we should find a lighter read," said Kate, going to the bookshelves, before you have a heart attack."

* * *

**4:00 PM, December 31, 2013**

It was a rare and special occasion when both Castle and Beckett had a full day off of work and they were having trouble finding ways to fill the empty hours that were usually spent doing something constructive.

"What do you want to do now?" asked Castle.

"I don't know," Kate sighed. "What do you want to do?"

"You."

"Besides that."

"I don't know."

Outside the window, it had begun to snow, a white fluffy blanket settling over the city which sparkled in the setting sun. A bustle of tourists hurried along in the street below, snapping pictures of buildings, signs, and hobos as they went along, gloved hands clutching iPhones. Their shoulders were hunched against the cold, their faces red from the chilling wind.

"Want to play a game?" asked Castle.

Beckett sat up. "It depends on what game we're talking about here."

"It's a game me and my college buddies made up," said Castle, jumping up and heading towards the kitchen.

Kate was already wary of where this was going but she followed despite herself.

Castle grabbed a bag of M&Ms from the cupboard and gestured for her to come to the window. He undid the latch and slid the glass up, letting in a blast of freezing cold air.

Beckett shivered, goosebumps rising on her flesh.

Castle opened the bag of chocolates and offered her one. "Okay, so the game is called Look Up, Lady. What you do is you take an M&M," he poured out a handful of the candies and took one between his fingers. "And you throw it out the window at a passerby. If they look up, you get a point. If the person looks up and yells at you, you get two points. Fun, right?"

"Umm… I guess," she answered skeptically.

"All right, you go first," said Castle. "Go on."

Beckett slowly leaned out the window and looked down, selecting her target. She saw a tourist with his cell phone out, taking pictures of buildings. She aimed, and fired, hitting him squarely on the head. To her disappointment, he didn't look up.

"Ah, too bad," Castle groaned. "It's harder when it's snowing or raining."

Kate grinned. "All right, your turn. Show me how it's done."

"Okay," Castle said, putting on a serious persona. He selected a blue M&M, popped it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. He picked out another blue one and leaned out the window. "You gotta throw it hard enough that they feel it." He wound up, and released, hitting an old lady in the face. She looked up. "Point!" Castle shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

Beckett applauded and took her turn, earning herself two points this time. "Castle, this is so dumb!" she laughed as he took his turn, missing completely.

"But it's fun, right?"

"Yeah, it kinda is," she confessed, leaning out the window and lobbing a red chocolate at a random guy.

Castle grabbed her from behind and shoved her playfully.

She jumped and screamed, causing everyone below to look up to find the source of the sound.

Castle held onto her tightly to make sure she didn't actually accidentally fall out the window.

"Castle, you jackass!" she shouted, smacking him in the arm once safely back inside.

Castle took the hit, knowing he deserved it. "But good news, you just got, like a hundred points!" He grabbed a green M&M and peered out, looking for a hit good enough to catch him up in the competition. He threw it into a crowd at random. Just his luck, he managed to hit a passing police officer who looked up.

"Hey!" shouted the female cop. "You!"

Castle ducked quickly back inside.

"What?" asked Kate.

"I just hit a police officer!" Castle laughed, keeping away from the view of the window.

Beckett glanced outside. "Hey, I know her!" She waved. "Hey, Hastings! Sorry about that!"

The cop smiled. "Hey, Detective Beckett!"

"Happy New Year!"

"Yeah, you too!" Hastings shouted from the street. "Tell your boyfriend to stop throwing M&Ms at people or he's going to be spending the first part of 2014 in lockup."

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to watch the ball drop, I promise to finish this later! Happy 2014!**


End file.
